Car roof



Jan, 29, 1924.

C. D. BONSALL CAR ROOF Filed ADril 17.

/Z ,Zal/anfora' @Ef omo atente dan. 2Q, i924.

CHLES DAVE) BONSALL, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNUR T0 E. H. MURPHY COMPANY, OF NEW KENSINGTQN, PENNSYLVANIA, A GEPOBATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR ROOF.

Application led April 17, 1922. Serial No. 553,645.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, CHARLES DAVID BoNsALL, a citizen of the United States, a resident of the city of Pittsburgh, county of Allegheny, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improve` ment in Car Roofs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rigid car roofs of the all-steel type wherein heavy gage roofing sheets extend from side to side of the car and are rigidly secured together and to the car-frame to form a rigid load sustaining structure; and it relates more particularly to improvements in roofs of the kind wherein the roofing sheets have overlapped side marginal portions that rest upon and are rigidly secured to the transverse members of the car-frame. Heretofore, such a0 transverse members of the car-frame, which are usually'of channel section, have had the overlapping portions of the sheets secured thereto to form interior hollow boX-girders or carlines. Such interior carlines are objectionable because they reduce the clear head room inside of the car. Another objection is that the use of such inside carlines necessitates notching of the side plates or requires the use of separate bracket members for securing the carlines to the side plates. A further objection to the use of such inside carlines is that the carlines cooperate with the side plates to form an open framework, whereby the width of the sheets is dependent on the spacing of the carlines. The securing of the sheets to such interior carlines puts the sheets in compression and thus tends to cause buckling thereof.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce a roof that will overcome the disadvantages hereinbefore mentioned. Another object is to provide means for securing an insulating linin to the underside of the roof. Other objects are reduced '45 weight, increased strength, simplicity of construction and cheapness of manufacture.

rlhe invention consists principally in securing hollow stieningA members to the outside of the roof adjacent to the lap-joints thereof, whereby said stiflening members cooperate with said lap-joints to form eX- terior hollow box-girders. The invention also consists in stiffening the hollow boxgirders by means of wooden fillers. The invention further consists in the manner of securing an. insulating lining to such fillers; and the invention further consists in the parts and the arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

ln the accompanyin drawing, wherein like symbols refer to ike parts wherever they occur,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a c'ar roof embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an eniarged transverse cross-section through one half of the roof, the section being taken between joints on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical cross-section through one of the box-girder joints, the section being taken at the ridge on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section through a modified form of hollow box-girder joint, showing the manner of attaching an insulating lining to the roof;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of one of the roof sheets shown in Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross-section showing a modified form of hollow boX-girder joint.

The roof shown in the accompanying drawing comprises flat rectangular roof sheets A which extend from eaves to eaves of the car. The roof sheets slope downwardly on opposite sides of the ridge to form a pitch or arcuate roof. The eaves ends of the roof sheets are supported on and rigidly secured to the outwardly extending flanges of angle bar side plates 10 by means of rivets 11 and are preferably provided at their eaves ends with .depending drip fianges 12 that overhang the outer edges of the side plates 10.

The side margins of the roof sheets are lapped and rigidly secured together and to one of the lateral base flanges 13 of inverted channel shaped stifi'ening members B by means of rivets 14:. These stil'ening members are located at each lap-joint with one base flange resting upon the overlapping margin of one sheet of the joint and with the other base flange resting upon and rigidly secured to the other sheet beyond the joint by means of rivets 15. The transverse stiening members extend from eaves to eaves of the car and gradually decrease in height from the ridge to the eaves where they are curved downwardly and merge into the plane of the lateral base flanges 13. The eaves end portions of saidstiffening inembers are secured to the side plates and are turned down over the eaves ends of the roof sheets.

Running boards 16 extend longitudinally of the car at the ridge and are securely bolted to the upwardly offset horizontal flanges of running board saddles 17 arranged crosswise of the roof. The running board saddles rest on and are rigidly secured to the tops of the exterior stift'ening members by means of rivets 18.

By the arrangement described, the inverted channel-shaped stiffening ribs serve as frame members to brace and stiffen the roof, and thus accomplish the various functions of an outside carline. At the same time, said ribs cooperate with the roof sheets to form hollow box-gi'rders that stiffen the sheets against buckling and increase the load carryingcapacity of the roof. It is particu larly noted that by forming hollow boxegirders above the'roof, the roof plates are placed in tension under a vertical load, thereby eliminating the tendency of said plates to bend or buckle, and the top portions of the stiffening members are placed in compression and have sufficient rigidity to withstand the compressive stresses.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5', a wooden filler strip 20 is shown located within the hollow box-girder joint. This strip extends the full length of the box-girder and thus serves as a stiffener therefor as well as a nailing strip for securing an insulating lining 21 to the underside of the roof. The lining boards 21 are preferably secured to the filler strip 20 by means of nails 21a, which arrangement requires the punching out of a series of slots or openings 22 in one marginal portion of a sheet A1 to accommodate the nails 21R. It is noted that the nailing strip is adapted to fit snugly Within the hollow box-girder and, therefore, there is no need for separate devices for securing the nailing strip in position.

In themodification shown in Fig. 6, the side margins of the roof sheets A2 are flanged up, as at 25, and rigidly connected together by horizontal rivets 26. The flanges of adjacent sheets are straddled by inverted U-shaped carlines or caps B2 provided with lateral base flanges 13b that rest on and are welded or riveted to the roof sheets on opposite sides of the riveted seam.

Obviously my invention admits of considerable modification in the design of boxgirder joint. and I do not wish to be limited to the specific designs illustrated. For instance, the box-girders may be of uniform height and width throughout; or, if desired, the stiening ribs, or the base flanges thereof, may vary in width from ridge to eaves What I claim is:

1. AA car roof comprising .a plurality of roof sheets extendin from eaves to eaves and rigidily connecte along their side margins by lap-joints, and outside stiffening members of substantially inverted channel shaped section arranged adjacent to said lapjoints, said stiffening members being secured along one side margin to said lap-joints and being secured along their opposite side margins to the portions of the sheets located beyond said lap-joints, whereby said stiffening members and roof sheets together constitute exterior hollow box-girder joints.

2. A cai' roof comprisinga plurality of roof sheets extendin from eaves to eaves and having their si e margins overlapped and rigidly secured together, and outside stifl'ening members of substantially inverted channel shaped section extending from eaves to eavesl adjacent to said overlapped margins of the roof sheets, said members being provided with lateral base flanges, one base flange of a stiffening member resting on and being rigidly secured to the overlapped port-ions of adjacent sheets and the other base flange'of said stiffening member resting on and being rigidly secured to one of'said adjacent sheets beyond the lapping portions thereof, whereby said sheets and said stifl'ening members cooperate to form exterior hollow box-girder joints.

3. A car roof comprising a plurality 0f roof sheets extending from side plate to side plate and rigidly connected thereto and to each other, transverse outside stiffening members of substantiall inverted channel shape resting on and rigidly secured to said sheets, whereby said stifl'ening members and the portion of said sheets located therebelow constituting hollow boxgirders, said portions of said sheets being provided with a series of openings, filler strips within said hollow box-girders, roof lining arranged beneath said sheets, and means for securing said roof lining to said filler strips, said means extending through said openings in said sheets and engaging said filler strips.

4. A car roof comprising a series of roof sheets connected together and to the car- \frame, a series of inverted channel shaped msnen tions of the sheets located the-rebeneath constitute hollow box-members, said portions being provided with a series of openings,

filler strips within said box-members and roof lining arranged beneath said sheets, said lining being secured to said filler strips by members extending through said openings in said sheets and engaging said filler strips.

6. A ear roof comprisin a series of roof sheets extending from si e plate to side plate and rigidly connected thereto and to each other, transverse outside carlines of substantiall inverted channel shaped section extending from sidepplate to side plate and rigidly secured thereto and to said roof sheets to form hollow box-girders, filler strips within said box-girders, the portions of said sheets located below said fillers having a series of openings formed therein, and roof lining arranged beneath said root` sheets, said lining being 'secured to said filler strips by means extending through said openings and engaging said filler strips.

7. A car roof comprising a plurality of roof sheets connected together along their adjacent margins by rigid joints, and nverted channel-shaped cap strips on top thereof whose margins are rigidly secured to adjacent sheets, the side edge of at least one sheet of each joint lying between the lines along which the cap strip for that joint is secured, whereby each cap strip and the portions of the sheets between its margins function as hollow girders.

Signed at St. Louis, Missouri, this 13th day of Aril, 1922.

i RLES DAVID BONSALL. 

